“Most professions incorporate at least some element of team work, and forging a strong relationship with colleagues is a perfect way to learn from them and help each other develop.’’

The data showed that for obsequiousness to bosses, the British ranked first, ahead of the Germans and the Singaporeans.

Only 38 per cent of UK employees saw office popularity as a boon to career development, but 66 per cent of British employees saw the relationship with the manager as more important.

As for workers eager to be seen at the right places, professionals in Singapore ranked number one, followed by Spanish and Italian workers, the poll, commissioned by professional social media site LinkedIn showed.

“Those who place significance on strong relationships with co-workers are likely to have good influencing skills, which are great to have when teams work together under pressure," said Ms Blanshard.

"Good influencing skills are key in all types of career and sectors but particularly useful as your career accelerates and you start to manage people.”

The responses were drawn from employees in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Australia. Of the 3200 polled, 400 were based in Australia. No Americans were polled in the research.